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The Impact of Leader Status-Leveling Behavior on Employees’ Perceptions of Leader Warmth
No full textIn response to growing organizational efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), many leaders are encouraged to adopt behaviors that reduce hierarchical distance—known as status-leveling behavior. While prior research has emphasized its benefits for employees, little is known about its effects on leaders themselves. This study shifts the focus to examine whether, and for whom such behavior enhances employees’ perceptions of leader warmth. Drawing on the Stereotype Content Model (SCM), we propose that leader status-leveling behavior fosters employees’ perceptions of leader warmth. Moreover, we explore the moderating role of leader gender based on competing predictions derived from gender stereotype and counter-stereotype perspectives.
Using a video-based scenario experiment, we aim to test the hypothesis that leader status-leveling behavior enhances employees’ perceived leader warmth rather than competence, and the effect is stronger for male leaders. Overall, this study advances leadership research by repositioning status-leveling as a strategically effective leadership behavior and clarifying how and when it shapes employees’ evaluations of their leaders
2026 obesity psychoeducation and help seeking
No full textPre-registration of a psycho-education study. The target of this study is to examine whethre providing psycho-education about obesity affects genetal people's willingness to help seeking for obesity and overweight problem
How Early Childhood Education and Care Affects Children's Social-Emotional Development: Evidence from a Three Level Meta-Analysis
No full textAs the labor market evolves, early childhood care and education（ECEC） services have increasingly become the primary means for the working population to care for children. However, the role and impact of these services have long been controversial, particularly concerning children's non-cognitive abilities. Numerous studies have yielded meaningful but contradictory findings. Therefore, this study aims to synthesize existing research using meta-analysis to draw more generalizable and reliable conclusions. This will help clarify the effects of childcare services on the development of children's social-emotional competence and provide insights for the practice and development of such services
Documentation Gap Analysis: Implementation Audit of TGA COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Monitoring Plan
No full textThis independent audit systematically evaluates the TGA COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Monitoring Plan (February 2021) — a National Cabinet-endorsed framework implementing enhanced pharmacovigilance under provisional approvals covering 68.4 million doses (91.2% of Australia’s rollout).
Findings reveal systematic documentation failures. Only 3 of 19 outputs (16%) are fully documented; 16 (84%) are partially or not documented — despite TGA classifying 2,218+ pages for OAIC review. TGA reports 148 signals investigated and 57 actions taken, yet no audit trails link signals to actions or account for 91 unresolved signals. Senior TGA officials testified (Senate, 9 October 2025) that monitoring occurred through “day-to-day processes” without systematic Plan tracking, confirmed by OAIC Decision [2025] AICmr 54.
Methodology applies ISO 19011:2018, ANAO guidance, and OSINT principles to public and FOI records. Open-source, falsifiable, CC BY 4.0.
Full evidence base and methodology: https://github.com/paulrekaris/TGA-COVID19-Vaccine-Safety-Monitoring-Audit
Also available on SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=6333058
Zenodo DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17731054
Multimodal Perception of Uncertain Emotions: The Effect of Auditory Context
No full textThis study investigates how auditory context influences the recognition of emotional facial expressions within the uncertainty dimension of Appraisal Theory. Based on the multimodal nature of emotion, it tests congruent and incongruent audio–visual pairings. High-uncertainty emotions are expected to show stronger context effects than high-certainty emotions in behavioral performance.
Supporting summary:
This research aims to examine the role of auditory context in the perception of emotional facial expressions within the framework of the certainty–uncertainty dimension, a subcomponent of Appraisal Theory. Although contextual effects in emotion perception have predominantly been examined through visual information (e.g., face–scene or face–body pairings), the contribution of auditory context remains largely understudied. Moreover, the literature lacks a theoretical account explaining how uncertainty should operate in multimodal context effects, leaving a conceptual gap. Supporting the view that emotions are inherently multimodal, this study adopts an appraisal-based perspective to examine whether uncertainty modulates contextual influences during the integration of visual and auditory cues.
Hypotheses. Grounded in the certainty–uncertainty dimension of Appraisal Theory, we predict that high-uncertainty emotions (fear, surprise) will show stronger susceptibility to contextual modulation than low-uncertainty emotions (anger, happiness). Specifically, incongruent scene–sound pairings are expected to impair accuracy and increase reaction times (H1a), whereas congruent pairings should enhance accuracy and confidence (H1b). We further predict that high-uncertainty emotions will rely more heavily on auditory cues than low-uncertainty emotions, reflected in differential performance across scene-only and voice-only conditions (H2).
Method. Participants will complete a fully within-subjects experiment involving four basic facial expressions (anger, happiness, fear, surprise). Each expression will be presented in four context conditions: congruent scene + voice, incongruent scene + voice, scene-only, and voice-only. Visual stimuli will be drawn from the WSEFEP database and paired with emotional scenes from NAPS; auditory stimuli will consist of natural affective vocalizations. All stimuli will be standardized on perceptual parameters such as contrast, brightness, and loudness. For each trial, participants will provide recognition responses, reaction times, and confidence ratings within a fully repeated-measures factorial design.
Planned Analyses. Analyses will examine the interaction between uncertainty level and context type. Based on the theoretical framework, high-uncertainty emotions are expected to show the greatest modulation by contextual cues, whereas low-uncertainty emotions should demonstrate more stable performance across conditions. This analytical approach will allow us to determine whether uncertainty systematically alters the impact of auditory and visual contextual information during emotion recognition.
By incorporating auditory context into the study of facial emotion perception, this research aims to broaden existing approaches to contextual effects, which have traditionally focused on visual information alone. The findings are expected to advance theoretical understanding of multimodal emotion processing within the framework of Appraisal Theory and provide empirical insight into how uncertainty modulates cross-modal integration during emotion recognition.
Keywords: multimodal emotion recognition, auditory context, uncertanit
Subclinical Narcissistic Traits in the Age of Algorithmic Validation: A Critical Review of Reinforcement Mechanisms and Attachment Vulnerabilities
No full textThis is a critical narrative review that discusses the potential of the algorithmically controlled social media to selectively enhance subclinical vulnerabilities to narcissism, especially in someone with an insecure attachment history. The review uses evidence based on Kohut-self psychology and Kernberg-Object relations theory and Bowlby attachment framework to synthesize research evidence on three domains: vulnerable narcissism and social media behavior, algorithmic mechanism of reinforcement, and attachment related digital vulnerability.
One of the main arguments offered in this review is that vulnerable narcissists are not like their grandiose counterparts, but might use social media out of an ego-protection motive instead of an ego-enhancement motive, and with controlled self-presentation to cope with fragile self-worth and uncontrolled criticism. The review also suggests that it is possible to align algorithmic variable reward schedules structurally with this type of motivational profile, which can lead to compulsive engagement.
They suggest a model in three parts a (1) developmental attachment insecurity, (2) individual-level narcissistic vulnerability, (3) contextual algorithmic reinforcement in a bi-directional feedback loop - proposing that digital reinforcement cycles do not originate, but may intensify, already existing vulnerabilities. Four propositions are tested, and based on the end results, it makes four propositions to lead further longitudinal and cross-cultural research. There are also implications and preventive trends discussed with clinical implications being considered
Mapping Regulatory Standards and Guidance for the Performance Evaluation of In Vitro Diagnostics: A Scoping Review Protocol
No full textIn vitro diagnostic medical devices (IVDs) are essential tools in modern healthcare, enabling the detection, diagnosis, prognosis, prediction and monitoring of diseases from samples taken from the body such as blood, saliva, or tissue. The regulation of all health products, including IVDs, is guided globally by a set of underlying principles that ensure public and personal health protection while enabling innovation and access. Regulatory systems are developed to ensure that technologies on the market, be they established or novel, are safe, perform as intended and are reliable. These three characteristics underpin regulatory requirements and processes. Regulatory frameworks provide structured pathways for the development, assessment, and approval of IVDs, ensuring that rigorous standards are met before and after IVDs are introduced into clinical practice. Without clear regulatory guidance and standards, there is a risk that tests may not be developed with reference to the current state of the art, potentially leading to misdiagnosis, delayed treatment, or harm to patients or their users. For regulators, the term “state of the art” is generally considered to be the stage of technical capability at a given time as regards products, processes and services, based on the consolidated findings of science, technology and experience. It is an evolving concept, that acknowledges shifts in risks due to new developments in the clinical setting.
IVD performance evaluation is the systematic process of assessing how well an IVD performs in terms of its accuracy, reliability, and clinical benefit over its lifetime. The Global Harmonization Task Force (GHTF) defines performance evaluation of an IVD medical device as “the assessment and analysis of data to establish or verify the performance of an IVD medical device” (GHTF/SG5/N6:2012). Performance evaluation is a cornerstone of regulatory authorisation and mature regulatory bodies (e.g. IMDRF members and WHO listed authorities) generally require comprehensive performance data before an IVD can be placed on the market.
Under the global IVD regulatory model supported by international regulatory agencies (i.e. GHTF, IMDRF [International Medical Device Regulators Forum]), performance evaluation assesses 3 core pillars:
1. Scientific Validity – Evaluates the link between the biomarker being measured and the clinical condition of interest, ensuring the test is based on sound scientific principles. GHTF defines scientific validity as “the association of an analyte to a clinical condition/physiological state” (GHTF/SG5/N6:2012).
2. Analytical Performance – Measures the technical accuracy of the test, including analytical sensitivity, specificity, precision, and limits of detection. GHTF defines analytical performance as “the ability of an IVD medical device to detect or measure a particular analyte” (GHTF/SG5/N6:2012).
3. Clinical Performance – Assesses how well the test performs in a clinical context, such as its ability to correctly identify or rule out a condition in the target population (e.g. clinical sensitivity and specificity, and predictive or likelihood values). GHTF defines clinical performance as “the ability of an IVD medical device to yield results that are correlated with a particular clinical condition/physiological state in accordance with target population and intended user” (GHTF/SG5/N6:2012).
In the UK, the Centres of Excellence for Regulatory Science and Innovation (CERSIs) are a nation-wide initiative launched by Innovate UK in partnership with the MHRA, the Office for Life Sciences, and the Medical Research Council (MRC). These centres, established in 2025, aim to transform how innovative medical products, such as diagnostics, digital health tools, and advanced therapies are evaluated and approved, ensuring they reach patients safely and efficiently. Among the seven established CERSIs, the Clinical Evaluation and Assessment for Regulation of Diagnostic Tests (CLEARED) centre is dedicated to improving the regulatory pathways for IVDs (www.cersi-ivd.com). Part of CLEARED’s mission is to develop robust regulatory guidance to help innovators and manufacturers navigate complex regulatory approval processes for IVDs.
A specific objective of CLEARED is to draft a new, fit-for-purpose guidance document or international standard for the performance evaluation of IVDs. The current European Standard for performance evaluation of IVDs (BS [British Standard] EN 13612:2002) is outdated and lacks substantive guidance on key domains of performance evaluation. It does not address contemporary technologies, including IVDs incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) or genomics for example, nor does it reflect current regulatory expectations under the EU IVDR.
The anticipated outputs of this project include:
1) A comprehensive mapping of current regulatory guidance and standards for IVD performance evaluation.
2) Identification of gaps, ambiguities, and inconsistencies across frameworks.
3) Clarification of how core performance domains are defined and operationalised.
4) Evidence to inform the drafting of a new, fit-for-purpose guidance document or international standard for IVD performance evaluation.
5) A methodological foundation to support regulators, manufacturers, and innovators in aligning future performance evaluation practices with contemporary scientific and regulatory expectations.
Ultimately, this work aims to strengthen regulatory science in diagnostics, improve clarity for innovators navigating regulatory pathways, and enhance patient safety by ensuring that IVD performance evaluation reflects current technological capabilities and methodological standards
